Comfortable in his own skin
by TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne
Summary: It's a hot day in Jump City and BB takes refuge in the Tower's swimming pool. One shot.


It was a hot summer afternoon in downtown Jump City and pedestrians were so eager to get out of the heat and into an air conditioned building that few noticed when the grey Titan descended from the sky and landed in front of the city's hallmark Tattered Cover Bookstore.

Raven ignored the furtive glances from the civilians as she entered the bookstore's main entrance. She was accustomed to the looks from the locals, even if they were more intense than usual. The bookstore, with its cavernous interior was her equivalent of a toy store, with its endless collections of books, music and video disks, and all other kinds of media. She was more than familiar with the layout of the store and she quickly made her way to the customer service desk, where a young man with a goatee was waiting. He smiled as she approached the desk.

"It's good to see you again, Raven. Your special order arrived." He announced as he turned around and retrieved several books from a shelf behind him. "Oh, and before I forget, congratulations are in order."

Raven sighed. Did everyone in Jump City know? "Thank you." She replied as she handed him her credit card. Before he could take it she withdrew it as she stared at some of the merchandise.

"What's this? I didn't order these." She droned in her monotone.

The clerk looked at the pile of trade paperback comic books and graphic novels that were stacked next to her books.

"Those are for Beast Boy … I figured you'd take them to him … he already paid for them."

She pursed her lips "I guess I can take them" as she finally handed her credit card to him.

_**-( - )-**_

Robin was sitting at the kitchen table in the common room, intensely reading a stack of papers. Starfire was watching TV and Cyborg was futzing around in the kitchen. The Tower's air conditioning was on the fritz and Cyborg was waiting for spare parts to arrive. A bead of sweat dripped down Robin's face as the elevator door opened. Raven emerged and walked to the table, where she dropped her stack of books.

"The A/C is still broken?" She mildly complained. "Why does it always break down during heat waves?"

"Never mind that … it's time for our staff meeting." Robin replied as he looked around. "Where's Beast Boy?"

"He's in the pool." Cyborg remarked.

"The pool?" Raven asked with a hint of surprise in her voice. "He hates chlorine … and I don't blame him, it irritates my skin."

"Didn't you hear? I installed an ozone based pool sanitation system. No more bleach in the water." Cyborg remarked in a clearly proud tone.

Robin rose from his seat. "I'll go get him."

Raven raised her hand. "I'll get him."

Before anyone could reply she phased into the floor and disappeared.

"She sure seemed eager." Robin remarked.

Cyborg locked eyes with the Princess and wagged his human eyebrow. Starfire giggled happily.

"You two … stop it … so they started officially dating last week. It's no big deal."

"No big deal?" Cyborg guffawed. "It's the story of the century. Haven't you been watching TV?"

"I don't watch TV."

"Oh, but you should!" Starfire enthused. "The local gossip shows, all they talk about now is Raven and Beast Boy's romance."

"Which is why I don't watch TV." The Boy Wonder grumbled.

_**-( - )-**_

Raven's trademark dark hemisphere rose from the floor and vanished. The indoor pool was located in the Tower's basement and even though the A/C was still offline it was nice and cool in the room. Raven furrowed her brow as she scanned the large room. She didn't see him, but she could sense his presence.

"Garfield? Where are you?"

Suddenly she noticed a green figure swiftly swimming underwater. She walked to the edge of the pool and Beast Boy, who was now a young man of 19 years of age, popped his head out of the water.

"Wassup, mama?"

"I'm not your mama, I'm your girlfriend. They're waiting for us upstairs for the staff meeting, so get your green butt out of that pool."

The changeling immediately complied and grabbing a ladder he climbed out of the pool. She turned to grab a towel for him and when she turned back to face him she dropped the towel and gasped.

"Garfield … what the hell!?"

The changeling was standing before her, dripping in all his green glory, naked as the day he was born.

"What?" He replied as he picked up the towel and began to dry himself off.

"What do you mean 'what'? You're buck naked!"

"So?"

Raven turned beet red. "I can see your … your …"

"My junk?" He grinned.

"Your genitals." She corrected him.

"So?"

Raven's expression turned furious. Some lights exploded in the distance.

"Do I have to explain to you how inappropriate this is?"

"Hey, I'm not walking naked around the Tower. And even if I did, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that you're completely nude." She hissed at him. "Now would you please cover yourself up?"

He wrapped the towel around his waist. "Is that better?"

"Yes, much better … Gar ... what's with you?"

"You do know that when I adopt an animal form that I'm completely naked, right? My old Doom Patrol costume disappears until I resume human form."

She crossed her arms and frowned. "It's not the same."

"How so?"

"Because when you do that, you're an animal. Animals are supposed to be naked. People aren't."

"I'm still me when I'm in my animal forms, which means that when I fight bad guys I'm buck naked. When I'm a dog you can see all my junk and my anus too. You don't expect me to wear pants when I'm a dog, do you?"

Raven sighed. She was beginning to lose the argument. While she was still appalled that he would skinny dip in the Tower pool, she had to admit that his logic was sound, as detestable as his premise might be.

"Of course not, but Gar … skinny dipping? What if Starfire were to walk in on you. Sure, I'm your girlfriend, but she might be offended."

He burst out laughing. "Starfire also skinny dips."

Raven face palmed. "Please don't tell me that the two of you …"

He laughed. "No, we don't skinny dip together. Robin would blow a fuse if we did. I know I act stupid, but you know that I'm really not."

"That's a relief. So Gar … why?"

He shrugged. "I like it. Wearing a swimsuit in the water sucks."

"It does?" She asked in a skeptical tone.

_**-( - )-**_

Robin stared up at the clock.

"Where are they? The meeting is 20 minutes late already."

"Yo, Rob, chill out, we can always do it later."

The Boy Wonder rose to his feet. "No! I expect this kind of slacking from Beast Boy, but not from Raven. She's been sliding a bit lately, so it's time I read her the riot act. This is just what I was afraid of, now that she's dating Beast Boy she's picking up his bad habits."

"Robin, Cyborg is right, we can do the meeting after dinner."

Robin charged to the elevator, grumbling as he angrily stomped his feet.

"Come on Rob, just let them be."

He continued to ignore them and pressed the 'B' button on the lift. He was whisked down to the basement and as the doors opened her could hear faint laughter coming from the pool room. His right eye twitched with anger. Not only had Raven blown him off, she was laughing and having a good time instead of bringing her dopey boyfriend back to the meeting.

Robin could feel the indignation swell in his chest as he entered the pool room.

"Raven! Beast Boy! What's the meaning of keeping the rest of the team waiting!?" He bellowed.

The Chromatically Challenged Couple™ were standing in the shallow end of the pool, waist deep in the water. They were still laughing and splashing each other when Robin thundered at them. Beast Boy had his back to Robin, obstructing his view of Raven. They both froze.

"Beast Boy! Turn around and look at me when I'm talking to you!" The Boy Wonder shouted, the anger still in his voice.

The changeling turned around and shifted his position. Robin immediately locked eyes with Raven and frowned. That is until his jaw dropped.

Raven was topless in the pool. She immediately lowered herself so that only her head was above the water and she blushed a crimson red. Robin's face was also fire engine red.

"RAVEN! WHAT THE HELL!?"

The End

Yeah, I know Raven was a bit OOC, skinny dipping with her boyfriend. But when you think about it, Beast Boy is kind of a nudist. One thing is certain; he is comfortable in his own skin. Oh, well … a silly story that popped into my head today.


End file.
